5. Sandro
Sandro
Ihad zero doubt that Leo was going to be enjoyable to spend the rest of our lives with.
I simply had to figure out how to shift my thoughts on life in order to ensure he wasn’t paired with a somewhat morbid vampire.
I did not know what the fates were doing when they decided that I needed to be paired with an almost twenty-four-year-old.
“How many babies are out there?” Leo asked.
I smiled. “Three. Tulio was born in April, and the twins were born a day shy of a month later in May.” I shook my head. “I missed both births. It wasn’t until after the twins were born that I was rescued.”
Leo nodded slowly. “How long were you held? Do you mind that I ask?”
“I don’t mind. You will see the horrific memories once we claim each other.
I was held for just over two weeks, from what I remember.
They kept me alive, but only because they wished to make me suffer more.
They, of course, didn’t realize that I am a vampire, and I’m not sure how they never saw my fangs because I know I was unconscious for more time than I was awake.
” My only thought was that they had seen them and either knew about vampires and other paranormals, or simply that we lived in Italy, and vampire lore was strong here.
Leo wrapped his arms around his waist again. I could tell he was nervous. I wasn’t even upset. It was a lot to take in all at once. One moment, you were trying to survive in your pride, and the next, you found yourself running for your life.
“What would—”
Whatever Leo was going to ask was interrupted by a knock on the door.
It almost seemed as if he was relieved. I softly wrapped an arm around his waist before I walked over to the door and opened it.
I found Marcello standing on the other side and wasn’t surprised by that in the least. His face looked a bit like a thundercloud, which was expected, but it quickly transformed when he saw Leo beside me.
“Marcello, I want you to meet my beloved, Leonardo. He prefers Leo though.” I smiled down at my beloved.
“Leo, this is Marcello. He’s the coven’s second.
Before he claimed his own beloved and became papa to the twins, I would say he’s your man for getting revenge on your pride. Now I’ll say that Nicolo is your guy.”
Leo grinned at me.
“Hey. I’m still good,” Marcello said.
I nodded at the former head hit man for the family. “I never said you weren’t. Just that you don’t necessarily do that particular line of work any longer. Besides, you have Abel and the twins to think about.”
As if on cue, the adorable little blond poked his head around Marcello and smiled. His gaze quickly moved to Leo. “Oh. Hello. Do you speak English? I really hope so because I’m still trying to learn Italian.”
Leo held out his hand. “I do,” he said. “I am not completely fluent though. But there was a member of my pride who has a mate from England.”
“That’s cool,” Abel said. He took Leo’s hand. “I’m Abel.”
“Leo. It’s nice to meet you.”
Abel’s smile widened before he looked up at Marcello.
“Be nice. I need more friends at the villa. Don’t scare this one.
He’s a shifter!” Abel looked back at Leo.
“We’re outnumbered. There are just us two.
I think one of the donors is a shifter, but they live out back and don’t really interact with those in the villa all that much. ”
I knew there were probably going to be questions about that from Leo, and I would answer anything he asked. But we were going to need to figure out the logistics of our relationship going forward.
“I’m nice,” Marcello said suddenly.
I snorted, and Abel giggled. “Sure you are.”
Marcello scowled. “I am,” he said again.
“Did you need something?” I asked, breaking the argument before it could start.
I knew that it wasn’t going to come to much because Marcello was completely enamored with his beloved.
But at times, I got the feeling that Abel pushed buttons to get certain reactions from Marcello.
They would disappear for hours only to return looking… well, quite satisfied.
“I…” Marcello looked back down at Abel before he sighed.
He wrapped his arm tightly around the little fox’s shoulders and pulled him impossibly close.
“I was going to ask if you had a plan.” Marcello looked down at Leo, then back at me.
“Are you going to the villa to work things out with your beloved or somewhere else?”
I looked down at Leo in question. “Did you wish to go to the villa now, or would you like to go elsewhere to discuss things?”
Leo’s eyes widened. “I, uh…I’m not sure.”
“You should go somewhere,” Abel said. “You need a proper matemoon.”
“Matemoon?” Leo asked.
Abel nodded. “Yeah. Since we’re not humans, we don’t really get married and have a honeymoon like they do after they get married.
But why can’t we have a matemoon after we claim our mates?
It’s not like you’re not going to need time away anyway, right?
What happens when we get claimed? We go into heat.
Then you really don’t need to be stuck around a villa full of others who are just on the other side of the walls. ”
I sighed. “My suite of rooms is on the ground floor,” I told Leo.
We will actually be quite a bit away from everyone else.
” I’d requested a suite that was near the surgery room, as it was simply better for looking after recovering patients after they inevitably had to be sewn back up after bullets were removed or knife wounds were taking too long to heal.
“Oh, um… we could go somewhere, I guess. I don’t have anywhere to go though.” Leo looked up at me with worried eyes. “If you need to stay here, that’s okay with me. Once Rio gets back, I’ll have all of my papers and everything, but I don’t…I’ve never traveled anywhere.”
“I know where you should go,” Abel said before anyone else could comment.
“Some of the enforcers go to Banff with their mates for romantic getaways. There are these secluded cabins that I’ve heard them talking about sometimes, and I’ve seen some of the pictures.
You should look into that.” Abel looked at Marcello.
“What? I’ve seen pictures, and it’s really pretty.
And they’d have privacy. Which we didn’t really get. ”
“We were locked into the suite. How did we not have privacy?”
Abel shrugged, then looked back at us. “Or you could ask Rio about going to Brazil. I’ve seen pictures from there too. It’s gorgeous.”
I would love nothing more than to have the outlook on life that Abel did, but I did not see that happening again.
“What was it you needed to talk to Rio about?” Mazzi asked as he came into view. We were all standing in the doorway of my room now, and I sighed.
“How about Leo and I join the rest of you in the other room so we are no longer standing in the doorway to have this conversation? I have not yet had a chance to talk to him about where he would like to go, if anywhere.” There were several things I had wished to discuss with him before we were overrun by the others, but that wasn’t meant to be our luck, it seemed.
“I have your bag,” Rio said as he suddenly appeared in the middle of the living room, where Naldo was with the babies.
Rio spun in a circle, then noticed us all standing near the doorway.
“Why are you all crowding them? They need peace,” Rio said as he came closer.
He handed Leo his bag, and it did not go unnoticed by me that everything my young beloved owned was in that bag.
It wasn’t nearly enough for anyone. How was he going to survive with so little?
“Thank you,” Leo said as he pulled the bag close to his chest. “I can’t thank you enough.”
“It was nothing. I did turn in the key because I assumed you would no longer be needing it.”
Leo nodded. “Thank you again.”
Conversation died down for a moment. “Why is everyone standing around and not giving the newly acquainted couple privacy?” Rio asked.
“Marcello had a question,” I said. “We haven’t decided if we’re going to the villa or somewhere else.”
“You should go somewhere else,” Mazzi said. “Naldo and I went away for an entire month, and it was the best thing. Life hits hard at the coven once you’re back into the thick of things.”
I sighed. He wasn’t wrong. Although Mazzi was mated to Naldo, who was also a hit man for the family. I was a doctor who simply…took care of the hit men when they returned with extra holes in them.
“I would not even know where to ask him to go,” I suggested.
“Banff,” Abel said again. “It’s very private and secluded. And lots of pretty scenery.”
“Where, exactly?” Mazzi asked.
Abel shrugged. “I don’t know the name of the cabins that the enforcers went to, but I know some of them went there. They went to Alaska too. But there’s also an island in the middle of nowhere that has a gorgeous house and nothing else. It’s magical though, and I think it belongs to Master Edison.”
At the mention of the created warlock, I felt several different emotions.
Abel might have been the one who got into the warehouse and found me, and Mazzi was the one who got me back to the coven house, but it was Abel’s call to Master Edison and his magical abilities that truly saved me.
I was thankful but, at the same time, bitter about it.
I looked over at Leo and tried to be more thankful than anything.
“I wouldn’t mind somewhere secluded,” I told him. “Would you prefer a city escape? Perhaps Paris or somewhere else here in Europe?”
Leo looked truly overwhelmed. “I’ve never been anywhere, so I wouldn’t know. I’m good with whatever works for you,” he said. “Do you need anything since you’re still recovering?”
“I’ll see to that,” Rio said. “I’ll use a bit of magic to drop in and check on the two of you every so often.” He was thumbing through his phone. “Here. How about this one?” Rio asked as he showed the phone to Abel.